cinderella in a party dress
by city never sleeps
Summary: ...her life was anything but a fairytale. AU. *one-shot*


**c i n d e r e l l a **. _i n . _a . **p a r t y **. _d r e s s _

-:-

_Now Cinderella, don't you go to sleep_

_It's such a bitter form of refuge_

_Oh, don't you know, the kingdom's under siege_

_And everybody needs you _

-:-

Her life is perfect.

Until he shows up.

He: being the one and only, reckless, unpredictable, impulsive, Derrick Harrington.

-:-

He is so full of it; life, that is.

Maybe it's the way his caramel eyes shimmer under the dimmest of lighting, and how his smile always manages to be so contagious. His face is perfectly sculpted and his lips are always so kissable.

She laughs because he does, even when the joke is so damn cheesy.

She laughs because he fills her with laughter.

In truth, _she's never felt so happy._

-:-

He's beginning to change her.

She used to think dreams were for the juvenile; the lost souls.

But now, she's one of them.

_She's turning into a dreamer. _

And her soul is getting lost in the wind.

With a smile, everything seems okay.

Because he's around and he's there to catch her when she falls.

He's there to find her when she gets lost.

-:-

She's sitting on the roof with him, looking up at the stars. Their hands are intertwined between them. The wind is ruffling her pale yellow tank top.

She's picturing what it would be like to live a fairytale.

"Make a wish," he whispers, his bruised soccer legs dangling off the roof precariously.

"Do you honestly believe in that stuff?" She asks him incredulously, but on the inside, she secretly wishes he does.

He brushes a strand of her silky wind blown hair behind her ear. "I don't need to wish for anything right now."

"Why?" She shivers under his touch.

"I have everything I need, right here." And as he wraps a warm arm around her shoulders, she lays her head into the crook of his neck. It fits perfectly.

She closes her eyes and wonders if maybe he's the one; the Prince Charming that will sweep her off her feet and ride off with her on his white horse, into the sunset.

(_a dream's a wish your heart makes, when you're fast asleep…) _

-:-

She thinks her life couldn't get any better.

They spend hours sitting on the roof (_their roof_) just looking at the stars.

"The universe holds endless possibilities," he says.

She smiles at him. "Stop filling my head with your nonsense."

"It's not nonsense if you believe in it." He looks are her with his serious caramel eyes, barely hidden by his bronze bangs. She breathes in a sigh of satisfaction and looks back up at the stars. (_my heart has wings/ and I can fly/I'll touch every star in the sky)_

She's all his and he's all hers.

They didn't need anybody else.

-:-

Their first kiss was magical.

It leaves her glowing for days.

That night, she dreams about them getting married.

And even though it seems like such a faraway dream, she knows deep down in her heart it will come true if she just closes her eyes long enough.

-:-

She's wearing her powder blue party dress and her favorite glass slippers.

He says she looks like a princess when she opens the door for him.

They spend the night dancing under the stars and drinking glasses of golden champagne.

-:-

The clock strikes midnight.

She's got to leave because time's up for Cinderella.

He begins think she's too far gone.

Her mind has disappeared; it has traveled to the beyond and she believes things that will never happen. She wants him to sweep her off her feet, but he's too tired to do that. She wants him to kiss her under the stars, but he thinks that's too much of a cliché.

Her eyes are always glassy because she sees the impractical.

She's always hoping that the next morning, he'll come to her doorstep, her glass slipper in hand.

He never shows up.

-:-

"I've met someone else."

And those words struck her life knives, sending her crumbling back into the darkness she came from.

He's looking at her with unbelievable guilt. But she only feels sorry for him.

He's taken her so far, it's too late to go back.

All those dreams she dreamed and the wishes she wished just vanishes into the empty air around her.

_What's the use of dreaming when there's nothing to dream about? _

"I think you should leave." She slams the door in his face, the hot tears streaming down her pale cheeks.

Her prince has found another princess.

-:-

She's sick.

-:-

Her hospital bed is covered in starchy white sheets that scratch at her exposed skin. The incessant beeping of the heart monitor is slowly driving her crazy. There are sharp needles piercing into the light skin of her bony arms.

She lies under the white, insipid light and blinks because every time she closes her eyes, she sees her Prince Charming.

He's smiling at her, just like he always did.

Sometimes her lips will automatically curl up into a timid smile, but usually, she's too weak. She can barely open her mouth to speak.

But she's willing to fight.

All she wants is to see her prince one last time before she leaves.

-:-

He comes when it's raining.

The sky is gray and the thunder is pounding in her ears. The lightning lights up her room with a sick white flash that leaves her breathless.

She sees his silhouette by the open window.

The heavy raindrops are also staining her cheeks as she grins weakly. He's actually here and she doesn't have to pretend anymore.

"I'm sorry." He brushes a piece of hair away from her thin face.

"Don't be."

"She said I was too wild for her."

She cups his cheek. "You have the spirit of a dreamer."

His eyes crinkle into a smile. "Claire, I'm not the same person I used to be."

"I'll wait for you."

He smells like the outdoors and he looks older. His boyish hair had been cut; his bangs no longer cover his eyes. He doesn't look like a dreamer anymore, but the mischievous glimmer is still in his eyes. It sends waves of relief through her body.

Their eyes meet; her blue ones to his amber ones and she can't help herself.

She loses her breakfast into the plastic bowl by her bed.

He's holding her hair back. The shiny blonde locks are not what they used to be. Now they're dull, and almost gray.

"I don't want you to see me like this," she croaks as he hands her a styrofoam cup of cold water.

He shakes his head. "You're always going to be beautiful in my eyes."

"Then why did you leave?"

The question leaves a staggered silence between them.

He clears his throat. "I guess I just grew up. I couldn't see the things - the dreams - that you were seeing."

She reaches out and takes his warm hand with her cold ones. "Being with you was the only dream I ever needed."

"I'm sorry you never got your fairytale."

She smiles sadly. "No one's destined to a happy ending."

"But you were so intent on getting one." He looks away to the pouring rain. The tears were running down his cheeks too.

"If I don't get my happy ending, this one will be as close as it ever gets."

-:-

The whole room is silent when he goes up to see her for the last time.

She looks beautiful, her eyes closed, her expression peaceful, and her pale yellow hair fanned out beneath her.

His heart stops when he sees that she's wearing her favorite glass slippers.

Because no matter in life or death, she would always be Cinderella and he would always be her Prince Charming.

-:-

She's among the stars now; the place where she belongs.

He sees her at night, smiling her wishful smile at him before he goes to sleep.

-:-

And even though her life was anything but a fairytale, she was happy.

-:-

**I'm kind of on a posting spree. This story was very sad and surreal for me to write. I hope it makes you feel the same way I do. **


End file.
